a conversation with women beginning their careers … · contributions of women to aquaculture fao....

A CONVERSATION WITH WOMEN BEGINNING THEIR CAREERS IN

AQUACULTURE AND ALLIED FIELDS

Jesse Trushenski

CENTER FOR FISHERIES, AQUACULTURE, & AQUATIC SCIENCES

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THE STATE OF WOMEN IN AQUACULTURE

What do we know about women in aquaculture,

beyond our personal experiences?

FAO SOFIA 2012, Selected Issue in Fisheries and Aquaculture

Mainstreaming Gender in Fisheries and Aquaculture:

From Recognition to Reality



UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms

of Discrimination Against Women

UN Economic and Social Council adopted gender mainstreaming for

advancement of women and equality

UN and 23+ international organizations agreed to the Millennium Development

Goals, including gender quality and empowering women

1979 1997 1979

Despite this, women tend to marginalized in a variety ofways…the issue at hand is how to ensure genuine and activemainstreaming of gender and the many facets of genderconsiderations in the fisheries and aquaculture sector

FAO. 2012. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture. fao.org



While reliable estimates are not available…women are probably more involved in

aquaculture than in fisheries


5.4 MM WOMEN

FISHERS & FISH FARMERS


CONTRIBUTIONS OF WOMEN TO AQUACULTURE


In Belize, most processors are women from rural communities where unemployment levels are high and poverty is greatest

In Bangladesh, women’s NGOs and other entrepreneurs have encouraged

women to participate in aquaculture

In Cuba, female workers constitute 27% of the aquaculture workforce




In Estonia, the gender ratio of the aquaculture workforce is 1:1

In Israel, In some sectors, women make up ~95% of the highly skilled workforce

In Sri Lanka, women constitute 5% of the workforce in shrimp aquaculture, but 30% of those engaged in ornamental fish production




In Malaysia, ~10% of the aquaculture workforce are women, primarily involved in freshwater aquaculture and hatchery operation

In Jamaica, ~8-11% of fish farms are owned/operated by women and women

dominate the processing workforce

In Panama, 80% of the workforce in processing plants are women


DIFFERENCES IN POWER

There are vital differences in the power positions of men and women in fisheries and aquaculture


Less control over the value chain

Activities are less profitable

Access only to lower quality fish

Exclusion from the most profitable markets and highly

paid positions

Bigger losers from increasing market globalization


FACTORS WEAKENING WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION


Lower literacy and education levels

Time burdens

Mobility constraints

Participation in weaker organizations

Less leadership experience


THE CONFIDENCE GAP

Men apply for a job when they meet only 60% of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet

100% of them

Kay, K., and C. Shipman. 2014. The Confidence Gap. theatlantic.com

I THINK I CAN DO THIS…OKAY, I MIGHT BEABLE TO DO THIS…I MEAN, PROBABLYNOT, BUT I CAN LEARN, RIGHT?…OMG,THERE’S NO WAY I CAN DO THIS AND ICAN NEVER LEARN BECAUSE I’M TERRIBLEAND WORSE THAN ANYONE HAS EVERBEEN…I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!

DUDE BRO, I GOT THIS.


THE WAGE GAP

American women earn only 80-95% of what men earn

More women work part-time

More women leave the workforce for family care

Women tend to favor “family friendly” industries,

occupations, and workplaces

CONSAD for the DOL. 2009. An analysis of the reasons for the disparity in wages between men and women.


THE WAGE GAP

Differences in earnings between men and women in the shrimp value chain in Bangladesh

Development & Training Services for USAID. 2006. A pro-poor analysis of the shrimp sector in Bangladesh. usaid.org

CATCHING & SORTING FRY

REPAIRING PONDS & OTHER LABOR

PROCESSING—PACKING

PROCESSING—COOKING

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


ASKING FOR MORE

Women appear less willing to negotiate than men, particularly

early in their career

Babcock, L., S. Laschever, M. Gelfand, and D. Small. 2003. Nice girls don’t ask. hbr.org

I CAN PAY YOU $3—10.HOW DOES $3 SOUND?

OKAY.

I CAN PAY YOU $3—10.HOW DOES $3 SOUND?

NOT AS GOOD AS $10.


GETTING AHEAD

Career advancement strategies yield different

results for men and women

Making achievements known and gaining access to powerful others

are most effective for women

Keeping options open and changing jobs helps men,

but hurts women

Carter, N.M., & C. Silva. 2011. The myth of the ideal worker: does doing all the right things really get women ahead?


DON’T EXPECT A SISTERHOOD

Evidence suggests that women don’t look out for

each other in the workplace

60% of bullies are men, but female bullies target women more than 70% of the time

Women don’t have to be each others allies by default, but they

shouldn’t be enemies either

Workplace Bullying Institute. 2009. Woman-on-woman bullying. workplacebullying.org


RECOGNIZE THAT PEOPLE MIGHT NOT GET IT

Communicating what you do, why it’s important, and why you value your career strengthens your personal and

professional support networks

Friends, family, and colleagues

who understand what you do are

more likely to support what you do and help you

succeed at it

WHAT STRANGERS THINK I DO WHAT SOME FRIENDS THINK I DO WHAT I ACTUALLY DO

WHY I DO IT


QUESTIONS

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